


You Can't Fight Fire With Fire

by ahyperactivehero (ahyperactiverhero)



Category: Detroit: Become Human (Video Game)
Genre: Anti-Android Language (Detroit: Become Human), Anti-Android Sentiments (Detroit: Become Human), Cabins, Camping, Connor Deserves Happiness, Father-Son Relationship, Gen, Hurt Connor (Detroit: Become Human), Hurt/Comfort, Poor Connor (Detroit: Become Human), Post-Android Revolution (Detroit: Become Human), Protective Hank Anderson, Protective Parent Hank Anderson, Summer Vacation, house fire, vacation gone wrong
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-11-14
Updated: 2018-11-21
Packaged: 2019-08-23 13:15:30
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 15,290
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16619651
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ahyperactiverhero/pseuds/ahyperactivehero
Summary: Hank and Connor decide that they need a few days to get away and relax in nature. Unfortunately, nothing can ever be as simple as they'd like for it to be, especially when there are still people who'd like to teach androids a lesson.XXX“Well, android, what’re you doing here?” one of the young men asked. He had spiky blonde hair and sharp green eyes. A scan revealed that his name was Sonny Ward, 24, and unemployed.“Um,” Connor said, his eyes flickering from Sumo to Jones to Hank and back to Sumo, “trying to catch my dog?” he said.Sonny left out a harsh, disbelieving laugh. “Did you hear him?” he asked his companions, gesturing to Connor. “Trying to catch my dog. No, you idiot, I meant what is an android doing out here.”





	1. Chapter 1

The sky was blue, white fluffy clouds filling it out as the sun shone down. The air was warm, but not yet hot enough to leave the air stuffy. It was the perfect early summer time weather.

Or so Connor had been told. He hadn’t had enough experiences with the season yet nor did the temperature affect him enough for him to determine. Hank had reassured him that it was perfect, however, and Connor had no reason to think otherwise.

“Just wait, Con,” Hank said. “You’re gonna love it. There’s trails to hike, lots of lake to go fishing on, and plenty of wildlife to see. Climate change has been a bitch to the Earth, but there’s still a surprising amount of local animals up here.”

Connor nodded, watching as the trees passed by. He’d never been out of the city before, much less in a place this surrounded by nature. The only place he could really compare it to was the Zen Garden, and even that had had an abundance of man-made things in it, as well as the fact that it had only been a simulation. While he was sure that the Zen Garden had once been a real garden, he was also sure that it didn’t really count as ‘connecting with nature’ in the way Hank was looking forward to.

It was strange to see so much of the world that humans hadn’t disturbed yet. Hank was correct, climate change and other such damages had likely affected these areas just as much as any other but itwas hard to tell just by looking at it.

“How familiar are you with this area?” Connor asked. He had noticed that Hank wasn’t using a GPS of any kind, instead going off of landmarks and road way signs. Then again, based on his own weak signal to the city, it was highly likely that GPSs weren’t worth much up here.

“Eh, I used to come up here all the time when I was younger. It started off as something my family did when I was a kid, and then when I got older a lot of us teenagers would sneak up here to get wasted without any parents around.” His fingers drummed on the steering wheel, matching the beat of the metal song playing quietly in the background. “I haven’t been up here in the past few years, though. Just got too busy with work and all that.”

Connor’s LED flashed yellow for a few moments as he processed this. There was a question that had been bothering him for a while now, but he wasn’t sure if he should even ask it. One, it might upset Hank to the point of defeating the purpose of the trip, which was to relax, and two, it wasn’t exactly any of his business.

Eventually he steeled himself, prepared for the fact that Hank might snap at him or maybe retreat into himself. “Did you ever take Cole up here?”

Hank’s fingers stilled on the wheel. “No,” he said. “I never got the chance to. We never really did get a vacation. My ex-wife hated the outdoors and would’ve never wanted to come up here, and Cole wouldn’t have wanted to go on a vacation without his mom.”

There was a pause as both of them absorbed his words. “But, that was then,” Hank said, forcing his voice to sound light. “And this is now. And now _we’re_ going to the cabin to do all of those things.”

Connor couldn’t help but smile at Hank’s words. The two of them had been through a lot together, and it only seemed fair that they get a chance to relax together for once. It would only be a few days, but Connor was going to make sure that he took full advantage of those few days, and he was sure that Hank was going to do the same.

An hour later and they had to stop for gas. “The cabin is close now, probably about another ten minutes,” Hank said, pointing down the deserted road. There hadn’t been many people who had passed them by on their way through the woods, which probably fit pretty well with the ideal cabin experience. “Let’s get some more gas and let Sumo out. Then we can be on our way.”

The dog, clearly having heard his name, lifted his head and let out of tired _borf_. All he had done the whole trip so far was sleep. Connor was sure that once they got to the cabin he’d be fighting to get out and away from them so he could run free, but for now he seemed content to just stay in the car.

“Come on, Sumo,” Connor urged. He propped open the back door, slapping his hands on his legs to try and get the dog to come out. “I know you’ve got to be ready to go to the bathroom by now.”

Big brown eyes looked sadly into the android’s as the dog let out a small _woof_ before turning his head away and laying it back down on his paws.

“ _Sumo_ ,” Connor drawled out, trying not to show his annoyance with the dog. Determined, he set about rolling up the sleeves to his red flannel (something Hank had insisted was perfect for a cabin vacation) and trying to get his arms under the dog.

About the time he succeeded in getting his arms under Sumo, the dog decided that he _wanted_ to get out. He jumped up, slamming his large body into Connor and knocked him to the ground as he scrambled out of the car.

“Ow, that looked like it hurt,” a voice said from behind him.

Connor tilted his head back, taking in the form of a man standing behind him. His arms were greasy, covered in black oil, as well as the jumpsuit he wore. _Jones_ was printed across the spot usually reserved for names, which made sense seeing as how the gas station they had stopped at was Jones’ Gas Station. 

“No,” Connor said, pushing himself up off of the ground. “I’m pretty used to Sumo knocking me down.”

The two of them looked over at Sumo, who had bounded away a few feet and was currently sitting in the grass, as if that was exactly what he had wanted to do this entire time.

“He’s a pretty big dog to be shoved in a car. I’m surprised he didn’t immediately run the second he was cut loose,” Jones said.

Connor shrugged, brushing his hands off on his jeans. He adjusted the baseball cap on his head, taking great care to make sure that his lock of hair was still perfectly out of place. “He’s a pretty lazy dog most days. We don’t have much further to go, at least.”

“That your old man in there?” he asked, jerking his thumb back towards the store. “He mentioned something to my wife about y’all staying in the cabin down the road.”

Hesitation sank in at the term ‘old man’. Connor knew what the term meant, usually used to refer to someone’s father (in rare circumstances a boyfriend, but the man didn’t seem to mean that), and it was popular with older people. But Connor didn’t exactly know how to answer that question. Hank wasn’t his father, despite the fact that he clearly fulfilled the father figure role in his life, not to mention he feared how the man might react if he were to hear those words.

In the end he decided to avoid directly answering the question. 

“We had to stop to get gas. I think the cabin is only about ten minutes away now,” he said.

The man nodded his head. “Yeah, I know the cabin. I’ve owned this station long enough now that I remember most people that come through here. I think I remember your old man coming through when he was about your age.”

Connor nodded, not having anything else to say. His hat seemed to sit heavy on his head now, something that made this whole conversation feel like a lie.

“He mentioned that he used to come up here a lot a long time ago,” he said.

The sound of tires squealing came to them as a pickup truck skidded into the gravel parking lot. There were a ground of young men getting out of the truck, each one of them more rowdy than the next.

“Oh boy,” Jones said, rolling his eyes at the boys.

“Is there a problem?” Connor asked. He watched as the boys shoved at each other, pushing each other until they were almost knocking each other off of their feet as they went into the store.

“Just some local boys,” Jones said, shaking his head. “Nothing my wife can’t handle. They like to think they own the place. Not that there’s much to own around here but,” he shrugged his shoulders, “I guess it’s enough for them.”

Connor nodded, not liking the sound of them. “Sumo, come on,” he said, calling to the dog who was still sitting a few feet away. His tail thumped in the grass, swishing some of the pieces free and sticking to his fur.

“He listens well,” Jones said sarcastically. 

Connor started to walk over to the dog, trying to get him to get back in the car. It was obvious that he wasn’t going to go to the bathroom, but now it was also obvious that he wasn’t going to get back in the car either.

“Sumo!” Connor yelled, diving after the dog as he took off across the lot. Connor face planted, not quick enough to grab the dog as he shot by. Sumo, meanwhile, scrambled across the rocks as he attempted to evade Connor.

Hank came back outside about that time, taking in Connor’s frantic chase of Sumo. A smile spread across his face as he watched the android chase after the dog. It was exactly the same way a worried parent might run after their child, trying their damnedest to make sure they stay out of the road or away from any other harm.

“Sumo!” Connor said again as he caught up to him. The dog darted between his legs at the last moment, taking him down to the ground.

“It’s an android,” one of the young men said, stepping out of the store. Hank could feel his shoulders tense at his words, a familiar sense of protectiveness rising up inside of him. There was something in the young man’s tone that Hank didn’t like, something that set his teeth on edge.

“Well looky here,” another one said, stepping off of the store’s porch. “Wonder what an android is doing in these parts.”

Connor sat up from the ground, his hat laying in the dirt where it had been knocked off by Sumo. His LED was on full display, whether he liked it or not.

Usually, this wasn’t such a big deal. Most of the time he was known as the first android detective or perhaps the android who had brought reinforcements to Markus during the revolution. There was very rarely ever any need for him to hid his LED, even if he wanted to. Which he didn’t. It made no sense for him to pretend to be something that he wasn’t just to make someone else more comfortable.

Now, however, it felt like a huge deal. Androids had been common in the city of Detroit, both becauses it was where they had been created and manufactured and because it was a city that required a rather large work force. Smaller communities like this didn’t see androids as often, both before and after the revolution.

A bad feeling came over Connor, something Hank liked to refer to as a “gut feeling” or, more scientifically, his instincts. Even if there had been nothing so far to suggest that these young men held any sort of aggression towards him, he couldn’t help but feel like they needed to leave. Soon.

“Well, android, what’re you doing here?” one of the young men asked. He had spiky blonde hair and sharp green eyes. A scan revealed that his name was Sonny Ward, 24, and unemployed. 

“Um,” Connor said, his eyes flickering from Sumo to Jones to Hank and back to Sumo, “trying to catch my dog?” he said.

Sonny left out a harsh, disbelieving laugh. “Did you hear him?” he asked his companions, gesturing to Connor. “ _Trying to catch my dog_. No, you idiot, I meant what is an android doing out here.”

The young man stepped forward. Connor took a step back. He knew that he could easily take Sonny out with no problem, but that felt like an escalation that would best be avoided if he could help it.

“Leave it, kid,” Jones said. He stepped closed to the pair, almost inserting himself between Connor and Sonny. “He’s leaving, okay?”

“He better fucking be,” Sonny muttered under his breath. “I know shits like you took all the jobs in the city, damn near the country. Now you wanna come out here, too?” He jabbed his finger into Connor’s chest. “I better not catch you out here again or I’ll-”

“That’s enough,” Hank said, stomping over to the group. “You touch him again, and I’ll make sure we get you for assaulting an off duty officer.”

Sonny turned towards Hank, a skeptical look on his face. After seeing the serious, almost dangerous look on Hank’s face, he stepped down, walking back over to his truck. Curse words fell from his lips the whole way and continued to fall out the window as he and the rest of the boys drove off.

“Here’s your hat,” Jones said, picking the dirty ball cap up from where it had fallen.

“Thanks,” Connor mumbled, placing the hat on his head and pulling it as low as it could possibly go. He was sure if his systems allowed for him to blush easily, he would be completely blue. All he had wanted to do was take the dog out, why the hell did it always go like this for him?

“No problem,” Jones said. He awkwardly cleared his throat, glancing between Hank and Connor before finally settling on Connor. “Don’t worry about them, kid. They’re just loud mouths who think they know everything.”

Hank nodded. “He’s right, Con. This has nothing to do with you personally.”

Connor nodded, but it was hard to believe that when he felt as bad as he did. They’d tried to get away from all of the bullshit in the city to the peaceful, relaxing scenes of nature. But it was hard to do that when Connor was a walking, man made piece of technology people liked to use as a target for their hatred.

“Looks like your dog is ready to go,” Jones said, pointing to the back seat. Sumo had hopped back inside, his large body taking up all of the backseat yet again. He yawned as he looked over to the group, clearly unimpressed by anything that was going on now that Connor was no longer chasing him.

“I’m going to pump the gas,” Hank said. He handed a bag of groceries and assorted goods he’d bought in the store over to Connor. “How about you put these in the car?”

“Sure,” Connor muttered. It was literally the least he could do.

Somehow, he had a feeling that this vacation was not going to be the peaceful retreat either one of them had been hoping for.


	2. Chapter 2

The rest of the night thankfully improved. The cabin was old, and a bit drafty with a few spots that would likely leak if it were to rain, but it was homey. Cozy, even. 

On one side of the cabin was one room. On the other side was another. Along the back wall was the kitchen, a kitchen table for people to eat meals at, and then in the middle was the living room,a rather large and overstuffed couch and a coffee table with a deck of cards setting on top of it.

Hank had allowed him to pick between the two bedrooms, saying that they were almost completely identical. It still felt good to Connor, made him feel important that Hank cared enough to let him pick which room he wanted first.

In the end it was Sumo who had picked which room he was staying in. Sumo had practically become essential to Connor entering rest-mode at night, something real and solid and reassuring that he wasn’t going to end up in the Zen Garden or any other bad memories that might be waiting for him to let his guard down. When Sumo chose the room on the left, hopping up on the bed with a large yawn, Connor sighed and placed his bad down next to it.

Dinner was a simple affair, with Hank choosing to eat some of the sandwich meat and bread he had purchased at the convenient store. Connor had tried to object, stating that a sandwich was not enough for Hank to consume and sustain himself on, but his objections were quickly quieted.

“I’m tired, Connor,” Hank said. “And I know, despite the fact that you don’t want to admit it, you are too. So let me eat my sandwich in peace.”

Connor agreed, knowing that it was likely to be a losing battle. Together, they sat around the table as Hank attempted to show him some cards games that he used to play when he was younger.

“Hank, I can fully download knowledge of these games,” Connor said after Hank had attempted to explain them several different times in increasingly odd ways. “Wouldn’t that be simpler?”

Hank shook his head, slapping down some of the cards. “That defeats the whole purpose of _learning,_ Connor,” he said.

Connor grinned at him. “Or maybe you’re just afraid I’ll be better than you if I do.”

Hank squinted at him, his eyes narrowed in mock annoyance and anger. “Ain’t some nine month old robot gonna be better at cards than me. I’ve been playing since before androids were even created!”

“Well, why don’t you let me download it and find out?” he asked playfully.

Hank flipped him off and placed several more cards down. “You’d probably cheat anyways.”

“You’re the one with so much more experience,” Connor said. “Don’t you find that cheating?”

Hank flipped him off again. “Pick up your cards and play.”

XXXX

One thing Connor had to admire about the country was all of the stars he could see. He’d never actually seen stars before, as his entire life had been lived inside of the city of Detroit. Even during the evacuation, when most of the humans had left and their lights gone dark, there had still been a combination of too much light pollution and cloudy, snowy skies to see much of anything. 

But out here, there was nothing but stars.

He laid on his back, looking up through the open window at the stars. Distantly, he thought about downloading some information on constellations, basics such as names, locations, and what would be visible from his location at this time of year, but he decided against it. Lately, he’d been trying to learn things “the old fashioned way”, like the game of cards, often with Hank’s help. It made him feel a bit more human, and the experiences were sometimes quite enjoyable and a nice way for Hank and him to bond.

Sumo trudged over to the bed, his big brown eyes staring up at Connor. Before, he’d been content to lay in the floor on his own dog bed, but it was quickly becoming obvious to Connor that he was not likely to stay down there for long. Not when he could practically weaponize those big brown eyes.

“Come on up here, boy,” he said, patting the bed next to him. Sumo’s tail wagged back and forth, slapping against the bedside table with a few heavy thuds. A few attempts later and he was curled up next to Connor, his body taking up more than his fair share of the bed.

“Good boy. Night, Sumo,” Connor said, scratching the spot he loved behind his ears as he drifted off into rest mode.

It wasn’t long before something woke him up, sooner than his scheduled wake time. A long, rumbling sound reached his processors, rousing him far earlier than he had honestly expected.

“Sumo?” Connor asked, reaching his hand out to pat the dog. It was strange to hear him growl. The dog was usually such a well-mannered, or at least lazy dog, so it seemed rare to hear such an aggressive sound come from him.

He growled again, this time slightly louder. A low bark was let out as well, warning of something nearby.

A quick scan of the room revealed nothing. There didn’t seem to be anything out of place, nothing that might have upset the dog in such a way.

“What is it?” Connor asked, sitting up. He followed Sumo’s line to sight, noting that he seemed to be staring out the half-opened window. A quick scan showed that there was nothing visible, nothing out of the ordinary.

“Go back to sleep, boy,” Connor said. He ran his fingers through his thick fur, taking great care to give a few good scratches to help him relax.

He stared out the window for a few moments longer before letting his furry head drop back down to the sheets. When it seemed like he was going to stay asleep, Connor allowed himself to go back into rest mode.

XXXX

The next day started earlier than Connor would’ve ever expected from Hank. Apparently, it was best to start fishing early, as that was when most of the fish were actively trying to eat near the surface.

“Grab that pole there,” Hank said, gesturing to one of the poles. Connor plucked it up from where it was leaning against the wall, inspecting every aspect of it. It was a simple enough pole for a beginner, yet sturdy enough to handle most of the fish in the area. 

“There’s a pretty good spot not far from here that we used to fish at,” Hank said. “If it’s still there, it should be the perfect spot for you to try to catch your first fish.”

A strange, uncomfortable feeling rose up inside of Connor. He pictured the fish from his first mission, the day he was first activated. The way it had laid on the ground, flopping as it fought for a way to get back to the water.

An internal shiver went through his systems. 

“You okay?” Hank asked. He must have noticed Connor’s hesitation as they set off walking towards the fishing hole.

“Yeah. I just-” he hesitated, trying to find the words. “Do we have to kill them?”

Hank looked off, thinking it over for a moment. “No, I suppose not. I wasn’t planning on cooking any of them anyways. Bought plenty of other food for that.” He glanced over at Connor, attempting to get a glimpse of his LED.

“What’s on your mind?” he asked, tapping his finger against Connor’s LED. “Something tells me you’ve got something goin’ on in there.”

Connor tapped his fingers against the pole as they kept walking. “There was a fish at my first mission. On my activation day.” He looked at the trees as they made their way down towards the water. “A deviant had taken a little girl hostage and killed her father. When he shot a fish tank it caused a fish to jump out and fall to the floor. I saw it laying there, and I- well, I just couldn’t leave it laying there.”

Hank looked at Connor, almost like he was inspecting him. “And this happened before your deviancy?” Hank asked.

Connor nodded. “Yes. Like I said, this was on my activation day.”

Hank nodded too, considering his words for a moment. “Looks like there was always something special about ya, then.”

The android thought for a moment about objecting to Hank’s claims. He was special because he was a prototype, he was special because Amanda had claimed that he had been designed with deviation in mind. That didn’t really make him special in the way Hank had to have meant, however, which left him feeling at a loss.

Sometimes he wished that he could see himself through Hank’s eyes. He was sure that if he could, he might understand why the human had so much faith in him.

The spot Hank had had in mind soon appeared before them. It was shady and along the edge of the lake. If there were any fish to be caught, they would surely be caught in this area, as it was likely full of food for them and fit most of the criteria for a good fishing spot.

“Well, this is it,” Hank said. He dropped the bag he’d been carrying onto the ground next to him and gestured for Connor to sit down anywhere he’d like. “Hard to believe that it’s still here. My family and I used to spend hours down here, catching all kinds of fish.” Noticing the way Connor’s LED flashed to yellow as he said this caused him to back track. “But don’t worry. I promised we wouldn’t keep any of them, and I meant it.”

The next little bit was spent showing Connor how to bait his hook (thankfully with a lure and not actual live bait) and how to cast his line out to maximize its effectiveness. He wasn’t sure if he truly believed everything that Hank said, but it seemed to make the older man happy to teach him, so Connor was happy to learn.

Only an hour or so had passed before it became obvious that this wasn’t going to be a task that he was especially good at. His fingers tapped against the pole, causing it to shake every now and then. It was like it was sending a tiny ripple effect out from where his line sat. The need to move was strong, despite the fact that there was no actual _need_ for him to actually be moving.

“You have to sit still to fish, Con,” Hank said, abundantly patient. 

Connor sighed. “I know, Lieutenant.” He gently placed the pole down on the ground next to him, staring out at the water. “It’s just… I’m not designed to sit still for long periods of time. I’m designed to accomplish missions, to keep moving. Sitting still for so long with no particular mission other than to “relax” is a little stressing for me.”

“Are you trying to tell me that you don’t know how to relax?” Hank asked, watching Connor from the corner of his eye. “Kid, I coulda told you that much.”

Connor shrugged, not knowing what else to say. It was never the intention of the programmers for androids to have their own thoughts or free will, so there had been very little need for “hobbies” or “relaxation”. Sure, over time androids had began to find their own ways to handle things, ways that worked for them and that didn’t work for them, but there was still a bit of a learning curve to it and Connor was still trying to catch up.

“Why don’t you go back and walk Sumo?” Hank asked. It had been good to sit there with the kid for a few hours, but he understood that if he sat there any longer it was likely that he would start to lose his mind. Or scare away all of the fish. Either way, Hank didn’t want him to hang around for much longer. “It’s probably about time for him to go out anyways, and I’m sure he’s dying to get out there and sniff everything.”

Connor’s LED cycled a few times before he agreed. “I suppose I could do that. It would probably be good for him to get out and exercise, too. The air up here is much cleaner than the air in the city, and it would probably be beneficial for him to-”

“Alright, alright,” Hank said, waving him away. There was still a smile on his face, however, letting Connor know that he wasn’t actually annoyed with him. “Get outta here, all your talkin’ is scarin’ the fish.”

With that, Connor took off. He waved over his shoulder and watched as Hank turned back around to fish. He probably wouldn’t be much longer, and while Connor would love to spend more time with Hank, he understood that the older man needed this. There was something calming about being out here, watching the water ripple with bugs and fish every so often, listening to the wind blow, and feeling the sun heat your skin. It would be good for Hank to spend some time out here alone.

Plus, there would be plenty of time for them to hang out. They had at least a few more days left to spend up here, plus there would be the drive back. There would be plenty of time for Connor to broach the topic he had in mind.

The walk back to the cabin went by fairly quickly. The sun was a little higher in the sky now, a little warmer than it had been this morning, but it wasn’t too hot. Sumo was a big and furry dog, but this temperature should still be perfect for him.

When he got back to the cabin, the first thing he noticed was the fact that the door was unlocked. He was sure that Hank had locked the door behind him this morning, a force of habit that was hard to break, but there was no way to be sure other than asking Hank, which he knew that he couldn’t do. They were supposed to be up here relaxing, not stressing out about something as simple as an unlocked door..

A brief scan of the cabin revealed nothing. There didn’t seem to be anything out of place, nothing to suggest that there had ever been anyone other than Connor, Hank, or Sumo in the cabin. 

The feeling didn’t leave him, however, no matter how many times he went over the rooms.

Sumo, tired of being ignored, jumped up and licked at his face, doing his best to distract Connor. “Sumo!” Connor said, laughing as the dog’s tails wagged back and forth. “Okay, okay, fine. We’ll go out, we’ll go out!”

He strapped on Sumo’s harness, struggling to get the dog calm enough for him to adjust it to the proper size. If it wasn’t for the extra strength he had as an android, he was sure that the dog would have easily pulled away from him and ran out the door.

“I know, boy, I know,” Connor said, patting his head as he led him out the door. “Let’s see if we can find one of those trails Hank was talking about.”

It seemed best for the two of them to start with an easier trail, something to run out a bit of Sumo’s energy without completely exhausting the old, lazy dog. There would be plenty of things for him to sniff, chase, and explore anyways, so it didn’t seem to matter whether the trail was longer or not.

About halfway through the trail, and a thousand of stops later, Sumo suddenly stilled, his whole body going rigid. A low growl formed in his throat, similar to the one he’d let out the night before.

Connor tried to scan for any signs of danger, any signs that someone else or something was out there with them, but his scans were basically useless. He’d never been designed with the woods in mind, so much more focus going into the city landscape. Later models, which were going to be designed with more of a military function in mind, would’ve had that ability added in, but the RK800 was all but useless. Especially so far away from the city and any other form of telecommunications.

“Hello?” Connor asked. He leaned to the side, hoping to see around the side of one of the trees near the trail and deeper into the woods. The better angle did nothing for his scans, although he could get a better sense that someone was there.

Sumo continued to growl, placing himself in front of Connor as if the dog meant to protect him. Any other time Connor would have laughed at the thought. He was an advanced prototype who could kill a man in a second, and yet Sumo was acting as if he were nothing but a puppy to him.

While it left a warm feeling throughout his systems, he couldn’t help but fear for both of them. Sumo, as protective as he could be, was getting older. If someone attacked them and he didn’t immediately run away it might mean trouble for the dog.

“Let’s go,” Connor said, tugging on the dog’s leash. Sumo strained against it, his front paws lifting off the ground as he began barking at something deep in the woods. The normally playful, joyous dog was now a fierce animal, angry enough to bite and maim whatever might be out there.

“Come on,” Connor said. He bent down to pick the dog up, ignoring the way the dog struggled to get down. It would do neither of them any good to stay out there now.

The whole walk back Connor could feel someone staring at him, their eyes drilling holes into his back, but whenever he turned around they were gone. There was no one there, nothing to even hint at the fact that an animal or anything else might have been following them.

“Is he okay?” Hank asked as soon as they walked into the clearing around the cabin. He must have just gotten back from fishing, his pole tossed to the ground in his haste to get over to Connor and Sumo.

“Yes, he’s fine,” Connor said, casting a glance over his shoulder again. “He wouldn’t stop barking and growling at something in the woods. The only way to get him to leave was to carry him.”

Hank patted Sumo’s head a few times, his concern still obvious on his face. “Did you see what it was that had him so riled up?”

“No,” Connor said, his voice unsettled. “My scans don’t work very well in the woods. They weren’t designed to differentiate between trees and rocks and things like that. That makes it hard for me to notice things out there.”

The older man looked at him for a long moment before nodding his head. “That explains what’s up with your LED. You look like your trying to process a whole years worth of data in a minute.”

Hank clapped him on the shoulder a couple of times, giving him a playful shake at the end. “It was probably just a squirrel. When Sumo was a puppy he had a bad habit of chasing down every single one he managed to run across.”

The St. Bernard didn’t seem to be too concerned with anything now that they were back at the cabin. Instead, he’d settled at Hank’s feet, laying his large head down over the tops of his toes and huffing every now and then when they stopped petting him.

Connor debated if he should tell Hank about what he thought earlier, about the fact that the door might have been unlocked while they were away, and the fact that Sumo had growled at something outside his window last night.

But Hank was smiling. It was a soft smile, one he rarely ever did, and usually only when he didn’t think anyone was looking. It seemed wrong to mention anything that might take that smile away, might break the tranquil order that had settled over them.

“You’re probably right,” Connor said, despite the feeling that nothing was right.

XXXX

Several hours later they were sprawled across the living room in the cabin. Hank had taken up residence on the couch, enjoying a burger that he’d cooked on the grill outside. Connor laid in the floor, his head propped up on Sumo’s furry body. Every once in a while the dog’s tail would smack against his side, just to remind him that he was there and would love to be petted.

“We should do cookouts more often,” Connor said, noting how much Hank was enjoying his meal. While Connor would prefer if Hank would partake in healthier meals, he also recognized that the man was unlikely to completely change his ways after over fifty years. At least if they were to cookout at home, Connor could make sure that they bought the best meat and served health side options.

“Why’s that?” Hank asked. “You still can’t eat it, right?” 

Connor shook his head. They’d had this discussion before, shortly after he’e deviated. He’d turned up at Hank’s doorstep after staying with Markus at Jericho for a few months with nothing to do and nowhere to go. He made the androids at Jericho uncomfortable when he was around, and while in the beginning it had just been another thing to overcome, it soon became a heavy burden that weighed him down when ever he was around them.

Hank, and the time not knowing what else to do, but having been raised right, had offered him a beer and some food. 

_“Wait,” he’d said. “Can you even eat?”_

_“No.”_

_“Shit,” Hank said. “I’m sorry.”_

_“Don’t be,” Connor said. “There are certain models of androids that are able to consume human food and dispose of it later. Most of those models are YK models, aka the children models, and some of the caretaker models. I’ve heard that there were several updates in the works before CyberLife crashed, something to make an android more lifelike for the people who wanted androids as partners to take on dates or things such as that, but I believe those were ended when CyberLife ended.”_

“No,” Connor said. “But I can cook. And you seem to like it.”

Hank smiled. “It’s a burger, Con,” Hank said. “Of course I like it.”

Connor smiled back, even though something about it felt forced. 

“Hank,” he said, twiddling with the sleeves of his flannel. Why did it always seem like the left sleeve was shorter than the right sleeve? Was that a problem with the clothing industry? Did they really make one side of the clothes longer than the other? All humans have a side of their body that was larger than the other. Was it usually the right side? Or was it something that was wrong with _him?_ Did his sensors just seem to _think_ one side was longer than the other, even when it wasn’t? Or had he really been designed with one side larger than the other in order to more perfectly blend in with humans? After all, too much symmetry tended to startle humans, and that had never been his-

“Con?” Hank asked, leaning forward. He’d put his burger back on his plate and rested it on the armrest of the couch, staring down at Connor as he spoke. “Is everything okay?”

Connor startled, breaking out of his thought spiral. “Yes,” he said, a bit too forcefully. “I just had a question for you.”

“Oh,” Hank said, seemingly surprise at the direction this had taken. He leaned back, his eyes still trained on Connor and looking for anything else that might be wrong with him. Connor had once tried to explain his thought spirals to Hank before, describing it like when a computer wouldn’t close a program, except this was a thought, but he wasn’t certain Hank had ever truly understood. “Well, ask away.”

He started to fiddle with the ends of his sleeves again, unsure at to how to really start this conversation. He’d planned it over and over again in his head, trying to figure out the best way to bring up the topic that would give him the best results. Even if Hank didn’t agree, he still wanted to be close to him, to treat him the same way he always had. If he did this wrong that might not happen.

“So you know how I’m an android,” Connor said and then immediately cringed when he heard his words. As Hank would say ‘of-fucking-course’ he knew that he was an android. As if introducing himself as ‘the android sent by CyberLife’ hadn’t drilled that into Hank’s head enough, now he had to go and state the obvious.

A small, barely contained laugh came from Hank. The man was visibly still confused, but he had also seen how Connor had reacted to his own words and knew that him full on laughing at him would likely cause the kid to shut him out.

“Yeah,” Hank said. “I might’ve noticed it.”

Connor slapped a hand against his face, a very human gesture that he’d learned from living with Hank for so long.

“What I meant was-”

Sumo jumped up, dumping Connor’s head to the floor. His plastimetal head clanked against the hardwood floor as his arms flailed, trying to catch on to anything he could.

“What the hell?” Hank asked, watching as Sumo began growling at the door. Even Hank seemed put off by the dog’s strange behavior.

“This is what he was doing earlier,” Connor said, flipping over until he was on his hands and knees. “I think he did it last night, too. It woke me up from rest-mode.”

“It’s probably a deer or something,” Hank said. “He’s never done too great with different animals before, and being in a new location…” His voice trailed off, sounding less and less confident as he went on. “I’m sure that’s it.”

Connor watched as Sumo sniffed around the door and growled a few more times. “I’m sure you’re right.”

Hank glanced over to the clock on the wall. “It’s getting pretty late. Why don’t we just call it a night?”

Disappointment washed over Connor, but he had no real reason to argue. There would be other chances to ask him, after all, there was no need to rush.

XXXX

Something was wrong. Something was _very, very_ wrong. It felt like someone had turned the heat all the way up, cranking it up until it felt like his insides were going to melt and leak out. 

Maybe that had already happened?

A growling sound reached his processors, and heavy paws landed on his chest, nudging him nearly off of the bed.

When he opened his eyes the only thing he was was smoke. Smoke and orange light. The ceiling was obscured, taken over by the waves of orange, the light flickering in front of him.

Sumo jumped again, landing on Connor’s chest and finally knocking him off of the bed. The fall and the landing seemed to shock something in Connor’s systems, snapping him out of his sleep and the daze he’d seemed to be in.

Fire. There was a fire in his room. On his ceiling.

“Come here, boy!” Connor yelled, reaching out for Sumo. The poor dog looked miserable, limping over to Connor. He seemed to be tired, his attempts at waking Connor must have taken the last of his energy.

“It’s okay,” Connor said, wrapping his arm around Sumo. “Just stay with me, boy, stay with me.” He stayed low to the ground, crawling on his hands and knees, all while using one hand to help lead Sumo along to the point where he was basically carrying him with one arm.

The fire seemed to be everywhere. And if there wasn’t fire, there was smoke.

Connor could feel his systems trying to cool down, trying to expel the smoke. He coughed a very human sounding cough, hating the way it sounded and felt in his throat. Distantly, he wondered if the smoke could damage his vocal processors the same way it could damage a human’s.

“Hank!” he yelled over the roaring of the fire. “Hank!”

Slowly, he made his way towards Hank’s bedroom across the cabin. There seemed to be less fire this way, although there was just as much smoke.

“Hank!” He pushed open the door to Hank’s room, attempting to feel his way towards Hank’s bed. When he reached the edge of the bed he stood up, using the bed as a prop.

“Please, Hank, wake up!” he said as he shook the older man. 

Hank’s eyes rolled a bit before blinking open, confusion shining in them as he took in Connor’s form. 

Connor slid the t-shirt he’d worn to sleep over his head and placed it over Hank’s mouth. Hopefully, it would allow the human to breath a bit better. “Hank,” he said, coughing a bit as he said it. “There’s a fire! We need to get out!”

Hank shot up, almost knocking Connor’s down. If it wasn’t for the bed, he might have.

“Get down!” Hank said, pushing Connor from the edge of the bed and back to the floor. He kept the shirt to his face, placing a arm over Connor as they began scooting towards the front door. 

It wasn’t long before the smoke began to effect Hank. His lungs were burning as he coughed, a rough, painful sound that grated against all of Connor’s sensors. It was a sound he’d hoped he’d never have to hear Hank make and hoped that he’d never hear it again.

Connor was practically dragging both him and Sumo by the time they reached the middle of the living room. Both of them were limp, leaning heavily on Connor as they scooted across the ground, attempting to stay as low as possible to avoid most of the smoke.

“We’re almost there,” Connor said, his voice almost a whisper as he dragged them towards the door. The door was in sight, blurry from all the smoke in the air, but still in sight. If he could make it just a few more feet then they would be free, they’d be safe. There would be plenty of air out there, nice, cool air that they would be able to bask in away from the heat.

“Hank,” Connor coughed out. “I need...you to…” His voice cut off into a series of coughs as he felt his arms collapse.

“No,” he whimpered, looking at the door just out of reach. There was no way he could stop now, they weren’t free. They were still in danger! If he stopped now then Hank and Sumo would likely die.

He weakly curled up on his side, his arms limply moving until they were laying sprawled at his side. There had to be a way he could get them out of there.

**> SYSTEM_WARNING**

**> SYSTEM_TEMPERATURE_EXCESSIVE**

**> SYSTEM_REBOOT?**

**> Y_OR_N**

“No,” Connor whispered, trying to fight against it. “No!”

Something shifted next to him, although it was hard to tell if it was real or in his imagination. His eyes slid closed, his systems working to reboot and cool itself down.

“Connor?” Hank asked, sitting up a bit. He’d felt them stop, felt them drop the short distance to the ground. The air was stifling, burning. Even with the shirt over his face it was difficult to breath. 

When he looked up he could feel his heart stop in his chest.

Connor was laying next to him, his eyes closed with his arms pulled close to him, as if to protect himself somehow. His LED was flashing red, its light almost unnoticeable against the fire light.

“Con.” He reached over and shook Connor’s shoulder, hoping to wake up him. There didn’t seem to be any damage done to him, which meant that it was probably the temperature and the smoke getting to him.

Sumo whimpered on the other side of Connor, his head popping up over Connor’s body and resting his head on his shoulder.

A quick glance around revealed the door was only a few feet away from them. Despite the ache in his chest and the searing pain on his skin, he knew that he could make it there. He had to.

“Hold on, Con,” Hank said. He forced his way up to his knees, straining to crawl the rest of the way to the door. If he could make it there, he’d be able to breath and gather his strength to drag Connor and Sumo out as well.

A glance at Sumo and Connor, laying side by side so close to the fire, gave him all the strength he needed to make it to the door.

He reached a hand up, gripping the door knob despite the temperatures that heated the knob. It burned his hand, his skin searing on the metal. 

He twisted on the knob, pulling on it as hard as he could.

But it didn’t budge.

“No,” Hank said, anger in his tone. There was no way the door was stuck. He’d made it this far, he wasn’t going to burn right in front of the door. No way.

He yanked on the door as hard as he could, but the smoke had done enough damage. It had weakened him enough that he couldn’t pull against whatever was stopping the door from opening.

“Help us!” Hank yelled, banging on the door as hard as he could. Maybe if he could scream loud enough, knock hard enough, there might be someone who could come and save them.

He tried to ignore the fact that he knew there was no one else nearby. That there was no one who would be able to hear them, much less get them out in time.

A piece of the roof caved in, sending a shower of embers down around them. It would only be a matter of time before the rest of it caved in on top of them.

There would be on one coming for them. No hope for them getting out.

With the last of his strength he crawled back over to where Connor was laying. Sumo placed his head and one of his paws on Connor’s chest, having rolled the shirtless android onto his back. His skin was flickering in and out, the white plastimetal appearing and disappearing as his systems fought to stabilize.

“It’s gonna be okay, Con,” Hank said. He ran his hand through Connor’s hair and patted Sumo on the head. His heart clenched as he thought about what would happen to them in moments. If the smoke didn’t do them in, it was likely that Hank was going to have to watch his loveable dog and the android he’d come to view as a son die in a blazing fire.

“It’s gonna be okay,” he said and then let his eyes close. If he was going to have to burn to death, he at least wasn’t going to watch his family go down with him.


	3. Chapter 3

“Kid!?” a voice shouted from somewhere outside of the void. The sound of splintering wood and screaming met his sensors. His programs twitched, the urge to respond to the sounds of a distressed human causing his body to spasm.

“Don’t worry, kid, we got ya,” a man’s voice said again. He knew that voice.

“Jones?” he asked. His voice was filled with static, breaking and cracking before he was even halfway through the short name.

He older man’s face swam above him, fading in and out as he tried to focus on it. Red errors filled most of his vision while the rest of it glitched in and out of existence.

“I gotcha son,” he man said. He slid his arms under Connor’s arm pits, his older body only able to half-lift Connor up and drag him out of the cabin.

“Hank?” Connor asked, trying to move his head around so he could see where Hank had gone to. “Help them first,” Connor mumbled, trying to point his arm in the direction he thought Sumo and Hank might be.

“We got ‘em,” Jones said. “You just worry about yourself, okay?”

Connor’s eyes closed again, the swaying feeling of the old man dragging him causing his systems to be upset, like someone had taken his insides and shaken them all up.

“You’re leaking. Or is it bleeding?” Jone asked.

“What?” Connor asked. That’s when he sensed it, when he felt the thirium flow down over his chin. “Oh.”

“Yeah, oh,” Jones said.

There was cool air against his synthetic skin, air that flooded his systems until he felt like he was going to be overwhelmed with it. He gasped, trying to take in as much as he could, despite the thirium pooling in his mouth. It dripped down his throat and expelled itself from his mouth when he coughed, spraying the old man blue.

“What’s wrong with him?” another voice asked. This one was younger, probably closer to the age Connor had been designed to look like. 

“I don’t know. Where’s his dad?  And the dog?” Jones asked, addressing who ever else was standing there with them.

“Joe and Jake got them out. They were gonna try and take them into town themselves, but they’ve got some burns on them so they decided to wait until the ambulance gets here,” he said.

The sound of Jones patting the man above him on the back came to Connor. “Good work, Jace,” Jones said. “Help me move him over towards them.”

“Is that a good idea?” Jace asked, looking over Connor. “He’s, uh, leaking?”

Connor swallowed a few times, attempting to regain his voice. “Overheating,” he said lowly, so low he wondered if the other two men could even hear him over the sounds of the fire. “Heat causes my thirium to thin, which means it leaks.”

“But you’re okay?” Jones asked. He was looking over his body, inspecting the damage that the fire had done.

Connor knew that a lot of his skin was flickering, unable to fully form with the stress his systems had. He wanted to flinch back, to hide his skin from the humans around him. While Jones had had no problem with Connor being and android before, he couldn’t help but feel like that might change if he saw Connor’s strange plastimetal frame. There had been such instances, after all. 

“Yes,” Connor said, turning his head away from Jones’s eyes. Barely within sight, laying on the grass a few feet away, was Hank and Sumo. Both of them were being cooled down with water bottles that were being taken out of Jones's truck and another truck that was parked next to it.

“What are you guys doing here?” he asked, fighting against everything in his systems to sit up.

“One of my sons noticed the smoke coming from this direction. Thought I’d come up here and check on you guys.” He reached around behind himself and pulled a piece of frayed rope, the edges clearly indicating that it had been sawed off. “This was tied around the door knob and the banister to the porch when he pulled up. Looks like someone didn’t want you to get out.”

Connor’s body gave up and dropped him back to the ground. He stared at the frayed rope hanging in Jones’ hand. Had someone really intentionally tried to stop them from leaving? Even if he had managed to drag them to the door, he never would have had the strength to snap the rope. Not after he had inhaled so much smoke.

“Son, what happened up here?” Jones asked. He placed a hand on Connor’s chest, insuring that the android wouldn’t be able to get up. “Do you know who did this?”

Connor scrunched his eyes shut. The feeling of heat against his body and the choking sensation of smoke still seemed to be consuming him, still filling his sensors up needlessly. “No,” he said weakly.

“Okay, it’s okay,” Jones said. “My wife called the fire department once she heard about the smoke. They should be here soon and they’ll be able to help you out.”

“How’s Hank?” Connor asked. “And Sumo?”

Jones turned his head, looking over to where the other parts of Connor’s family were laying. “The dog seems okay. His sniffing at your dad pretty heavily. And your dad is still out, but he’s breathing. It doesn’t seem like he’s got too many burns on him, aside from his hands.”

“His hands?” Connor asked. He tried to think back to when they’d crawled through the fire. Had he not been watching carefully enough to avoid leading them through the fire?

“Yeah,” Jones said. “Looks like he tried to get out but couldn’t open the door.”

Tears welled up in Connor’s eyes at the thought. Hank had still tried to get them out even after Connor had entered his reboot. Had he thought that Connor had shut down? No, he would have been able to see his LED. But he would’ve likely known how close Connor was to shutting down, just by glancing at him.

“Hey, hey, it’s okay,” Jones said. His voice was hushed, almost whispered. It was obvious now that the man had raised multiple kids, with some of them even being around Connor’s age now. “You’re gonna be okay, you’re old man’s gonna be okay.”

The tears fell even heavier at that, his systems stalling as he tried to take in even deeper breaths but couldn’t. Even knowing why his systems were doing this from a logical and mechanical standpoint, his optical units could have been damaged from the smoke and debris, and one of the best ways to rinse them was the shed tears, did nothing to reassure him. His systems were still overheating and the best way to counteract overheating was to take quick, cooling breaths.

And yet he knew that that wasn’t why he was doing those things. At least, not fully.

Things had changed since he had deviated, he was human now in his emotions. All of them. 

Even fear. Relief.

“What’s happening?” Jace asked, coming back over to where Connor was laying. His form was blurred through Connor’s tears, almost completely unrecognizable as a human being. “What’s wrong with him?”

Jones waved him off. “He’s scared. And probably hurt.” He turned to look up at his son. “Go have your brother stand down at the end of the road. Make sure the firetruck knows how to get here and that we’ve got people hurt.”

Jace glanced over towards Connor. “Do I need to mention one of them’s an android?” he asked. “They might not know what to do with him.”

There was a pause as Jones considered his words. “Just tell him it’s a family. And give me your jacket.”

Jace took his jacket off, handing it to his dad, who was quick to lay it out over Connor. Connor wanted to thank the man, for saving them, for covering him up, for not treating him any differently than he would anyone else, but he couldn’t. His throat felt like it was on fire as more thirium leaked out, spilling over and dripping down the sides of his mouth. He could feel it tickle the edges of his ears as it dripped past.

Slowly, the world grayed out. It was like it was doubling but losing color, somehow twice as real and yet twice as dead. Nothing made sense anymore.

“Son?” Jones asked. But Connor didn’t hear Jones anymore. It was like there was a thick curtain between him and the real world, something separating them. 

“Hank?” Connor squinted his eyes, trying to see past everything. “Hank!”

“It’s okay, kid.” Someone said. It must have been Hank. Who else would call him kid? Who else would care that much about him? “You’re gonna be okay.”

Hank’s hand ran through his hair, the same way he always did when something was wrong with Connor. It was like magic with the way it always made him feel at least a little bit better.

“Hank…” Connor whispered, trying to stay where he was. But the grayness swept in, quickly turning black and blocking out everything else.

XXXX

“I told you, sir, you’re not allowed to get up right now,” the nurse said, gently but firmly pushing Hank back down on the bed. 

“And I told you, I’m not staying in this bed until I see Connor,” he said. He waved at her hands, lightly slapping at them until she stepped back. “So where the hell is the kid?”

She crossed her arms, her dark blue scrubs causing her arms to appear even paler than truly they were. It reminded Hank too much of the color of Connor’s blood combined with his plastimetal frame. Something about the color combination set him off, wanted to rage against the poor nurse who had just happened to choose the wrong color to wear around him.

“He’s waiting for a technician to arrive,” she said. “We’ve got him hooked up to a thirium drip to replace the thirium he lost, but that’s about all that we can do for now. So please, sir, will you just get back in bed.”

“Someone tried to burn my son and me to death, lady,” Hank said, snapping at her. “So no, I won’t just _get back in bed_. Not until I see my kid.”

Her eyes hardened at the tone he used to imitate her voice, but they quickly softened at his words. “Mr. Anderson, I understand that this is a very trying time. But there is nothing that anyone can do for him right now. And,” she paused for a second, her eyes darting down to the floor before looking back up at him. “You don’t want to see him like this.”

The fight seemed to go out of Hank. “What do you mean like this? What happened to him?”

She rubbed the back of her neck, no doubt a nervous tick she had that she didn’t even realize she was doing. “I don’t fully understand everything. Androids aren’t what I went to school for, after all,” she said. “But from what I understand, the heat can affect their thirium somehow, thin it out enough that they can start to ‘leak’.”

“So the kid lost some blood?” Hank asked. “That’s the big deal?” He tried to sound like he didn’t care, tried to place the walls back up around himself. Connor had torn those walls down over time, but he hadn’t completely destroyed them. 

“When an android loses it’s thirium, it starts to lose control over some of it’s systems. Cooling, processing, it’s Uncanny Valley filter.” She moved her foot back and forth across a scuff mark on the floor. “His skin keeps… glitching. Like, it’s there one minute and gone the next. And his systems won’t cool themselves, so he’s having to get dunked in ice and stay under a cooling blanket. There’s also the fact that the smoke damaged his vocal units, so the sounds he’s making… Well, they aren’t…. Let’s just say they're not human.”

Hank sat back down on the bed, trying to processes this. The last glimpse he’d had of Connor that he could remember clearly was the two of them laying in the cabin, his hand outstretched to run through Connor’s hair while the other hand had dug into Sumo’s fur. He was sure that that would have been the last thing he saw, the last moments of his life.

And yet here he was. With another memory, one less clear and leaving him less than positive that it was real.

He’d been carried out by some young men, both of them taking him and then running back for Sumo. He’s cried out for Connor, moaning as his hand had left his hair, but he hadn’t been able to stop them from taking him away. He could faintly remember Connor calling for him and being unable to find him, a pair of strong hands holding him down as he’d opened his eyes to try and see where his son was.

But Connor had gotten out, too. He was alive, if not a little banged up, and they were getting him help. They were even bringing in a technician all the way out here at this small town hospital. They must think of him as worth saving.

Yet Hank couldn’t be sure. Not unless he was with him, watching them. What if they didn’t do everything they could to save him because they didn’t see androids as living things? What if the technician that they had called in didn’t know squat about how to take care of androids now that they could feel pain, much less a prototype such as Connor?

Which brought Hank around to another thought. Connor was making sounds, he was _awake._

“He can’t be alone,” Hank said, his voice cracking. “He shouldn’t have to be alone.”

Against his will, he imagined Cole. Cole, laying on the table, waiting for a doctor who was never coming to make him feel better, waiting for his dad to come and take away the pain and take him away from this scary place.

He couldn’t leave Connor alone like that. Not like this.

“He’s not,” she said. “Jones is with him.”

Hank’s brows scrunched up as he looked at the nurse. “Jones?” he asked. “The convenient store owner?”

She nodded. “His boys were were walking outside when one of them, Jace, spotted the smoke. They ran in, told their parents, and Jones and the boys drove up to check on you guys. Apparently, the cabin was already in flames by the time they arrived, and they had to cut a rope or something to get in to you.”

Hank thought of the way he’d pulled on the door, the way it hadn’t opened enough for him to get enough air, much less squeeze through.

“I need to talk to Jones,” Hank said. “It’s important.”

Her eyes were sympathetic as she glanced to the door and back to him. “I can bring him up to you. But you have to stay here. You need to stay in bed.”

Hank thought for a moment. If Jones left then Connor would be all alone. He’d be in _pain_ and by himself. There was no way he could do that.

“Do you think you could get one of his boys to come and talk to me? Preferably the one who saw the smoke first.”

A small smile came to her face. “That I can do. Jace has been in the waiting room ever since you guys were brought in.”

XXXX

It took hours before Connor could feel anything other than pain as his sensors came fully back online. He’d thought for sure that he had fried every single one of them before when he’d blacked out, but it seemed like he hadn’t.

There was a noise in the room with him, something low and pained sounding. He tried to open his mouth to ask what it was, to see if whatever was making the noise was okay, but felt himself stop when he realized the thing making the noise was him.

“You back with us, Connor?” Jones voice came to him.

He tilted his head to the side, noticing the man sitting in a chair next to him. He seemed to be in a hospital bed, although the machines around him were not fit for humans and designed especially for androids. He squinted at the readouts on the machine, trying to make sense of the damage that had been done to his systems.

“They said they were logging your problems on one of these things.” Jones directed his attention towards one of the tablets sitting on top of the machine nearest him. “I’m not sure what they meant by that, but they said something about not wanting to overwork your systems while you were healing.”

Connor nodded, understanding what they had done to him. It was like taking files off a computer when it started to slow down. Damage and error messages would only slow down his processors, take away energy that could be better spent actually healing him.

When he opened up his mouth to ask the questions he had such as how was Hank, where did the machines come from, why was Jones still there, he found that his voice was basically gone. The only thing left was a broken, static filled moan.

“Hush now, none of that,” Jones said. He took his phone out of his pocket and handed it to Connor, allowing Connor to text on it through his connection.

_“Where’s Hank?”_ he asked. _“And Sumo?”_

“Your dad’s in the hospital, too. Getting treated for his burns and his smoke inhalation damage. As for your big ol’ puppy, well he’s back on the farm with my wife. There’s no one better to take care of him. In fact, he’ll probably be so spoiled by the time your two get out of here that you won’t want to take him home.”

“ _He already is spoiled,”_ Connor sent. _“Where did the machines come from?”_

Jones scratched the back of his head, looking away from Connor. “One of my boys recognized you. Remembered you from the revolution and all that. He made a call to Detroit as soon as we made it to the hospital and tried his damnedest to get in touch with one of those leaders at Jericho. I think he eventually talked to one of them named Simon. He was in here earlier.”

_“Simon’s here?”_ Connor asked.

“Yeah. He said he’s still trying to find you a voice box or whatever, or trying to fix yours. That’s why your voice is all broken.” Jones gave him a small smile. “It seems you're lucky, kid. That android about snapped everyone’s head off when he got here and saw that you hadn’t even been moved into a proper bed yet.”

_“I don’t require a bed for rest-mode.”_

Jones rolled his eyes. “Everyone needs a soft place to sleep, son. You’re no exception.”

_“Can I see Hank?”_

Jones shrugged. “That’s not really up to me. I think that depends on your doctor-friend.”

Connor paused for a moment, searching for any sign of Simon in the building. _“Simon?”_

_“Connor!”_ Simon’s voice came to him. _“You’re awake! Give me a minute, and I’ll be right there.”_

Connor nodded as he disconnected, despite the fact that Simon couldn’t see him do it. _“He’s on his way.”_

“I have to say, that’s pretty weird,” Jones said. “Do all androids do that?”

_“Do what? Cybernetically communicate? If they’re able to, yes, most of the time.”_

“Do all of them have eyes that twitch when they do it?”

_“Nope. That seems unique to me.”_

“Just something else to make you unique,” Jone said, his tone light. Connor wished that he could find offense at the words, as he likely would from anyone else other than Hank, but he didn’t. Coming from Jones they were nice, almost like when Hank made a comment on something that he did.

It didn’t take long for Simon to come back up. His face was covered in relief and a lingering sense of fear as he stared at Connor for a moment, as if he were afraid to approach the other android. “How do you feel?”

_“My systems still feel strange. And my vocal unit has been badly damaged, which causes pain when I try to use it.”_

“You lost a lot of thirium due to your systems overheating, and the heat did impair your sensors a bit. It will take awhile for them to calibrate, and you may have to come back to Jericho for us to do that, Simon said. He reached a hand forward, towards Connor’s LED. “May I?”

Connor nodded, watching as the skin on Simon’s hands retracted and connected into his systems. Some of the pressure that had been building in his head that he hadn’t even noticed lightened slightly at the other android’s help at processing.

“You likely won’t be able to walk very well until we can calibrate these. You’ll also be more prone to bouts of nausea with purging symptoms,” he said as he stepped back.

“But the kid’s gonna be fine, right?” Jones asked. “He’s okay?”

Simon blinked a few times, almost as if he were just now noticing that Jones was there. “Um, yes. And who are you?”

“Jones. I own a convenient store just outside of town. My son Jace noticed the smoke from their cabin.” 

“Ah,” Simon said. “Well then, thank you.” He stuck his hand out, the plastimetal frame hidden back beneath his synthetic skin. “I think I owe you more than you know.”

Jones shook his hand but shrugged at the words. “I just did what anyone else would do.”

A dark look came over Simon’s face as he released Jones’ hand. “Not everyone.”

_“Can I go see Hank now?”_ Connor trying to break through Simon’s heavy mood. _“I haven’t seen him yet.”_

Simon sighed and dropped his hands to his side. “Yes, you can go see Hank. You’ll have to sit in a wheelchair to do that, though.”  As if sensing Connor’s need to argue, he continued on. “You’re not getting out of that. Your systems are still too damaged for you to walk around.”

Connor rolled his eyes but agreed. If it meant that he could go and see Hank then he would do anything.

With the help of Simon and Jones, he managed to get into the chair with little problem. His skin was still flickering in and out, sometimes coming in patches and disappearing just as quickly. He was grateful when Simon draped the blanket from his bed over his shoulders, hiding most of his body as he did so.

Hank’s room ended up only being down the hall, a thankfully short distance away from Connor’s. Jones knocked on the door, pushing it open once he heard Hank’s gruff voice tell them to come in.

“Connor!” he yelled, almost jumping out of bed at the sight of the injured android. Simon wheeled him over next to the bed, his hand lingering over Connor’s as he let go. Connor was grateful for the feelings of protectiveness and safety that radiated from Simon’s connection. He knew that if he or Hank needed anything he’d be able to ask Simon for it.

“We’ll head out now,” Jones said, following Simon.

Connor waved at him, hoping to get his attention. He needed to thank the man who had saved them, tell him that if it hadn’t been for him or his children that Hank and he and Sumo would likely have died in the fire.

“Thank you,” Hank said instead. Connor turned back to Hank, surprised to hear the older man speak. His eyes were misty as he stared at Jones. “Without you… if you hadn’t been there…”

Jones, able to tell where Hank was going with this, cut him off. “Don’t worry about it. I just did what anyone else would do.”

Simon and Jones left the room, leaving Connor and Hank alone.

“I’m so happy to see you,” Hank said. He lifted one of his hands to reach out to touch Connor’s face, but Connor flinched back. Hank’s hands were covered in bandages, confirming Jones’ words earlier that he had burned them.

“Are you okay?” Hank asked. His eyes were searching all over Connor, trying to find any reason that the android might have flinched away from him. “I heard you were...that something was wrong with you.”

Connor opened his mouth, doing his best to try and force the biocomponents in his throat to work. He needed to have Hank hear his voice, to reassure the man that he was fine, and even if he wasn’t fully recovered yet that he would be soon.

Instead, a screech came out, his throat clicking with static. He immediately stopped, his hand coming to rest at his throat as he massaged it. It hurt more than he would have thought it would.

“Jesus Christ, Connor!” Hank said, jumping at the sound that came from the android. “What happened!?”

He pointed to his throat and shook his head, trying to explain that he couldn’t talk. Knowing that he wouldn’t be able to explain everything without Hank’s phone, he tried to turn it back around on him. Gently, he took up Hank’s hands, turning them over and over. His scans couldn’t work right now with all of the other things it was trying to do, but he still had the need to inspect them.

“The door wouldn’t open,” Hank said quietly. “I tried and I tried, but I couldn’t get the damn thing open. Someone had tied the door to the porch, effectively locking us in.”

Connor sat there as he thought over Hank’s words. Jones had basically told him the same thing back at the cabin, but it was still hard to believe. Who would want to kill them? And who would be willing to follow them all the way up here to do so?

“Jones’ son, Jace, said he saw a truck leaving the area around the cabin about the time of the fire. Looks like those shitheads that gave you trouble at the store thought it would be fun to burn us to death,” Hank said.

Connor’s LED flickered back and forth between red and yellow, red and yellow. Someone had hated Connor enough to kill him, but instead of just trying to go directly after him, they had nearly killed his entire family. This was all his fault. If he hadn’t been there, if he had taken out his LED, if he had just stayed in the car…

If he had just been born a human…

“Hey, look at me,” Hank said, his voice snapping Connor from his spiraling thoughts. “I know that look. This is not your fault.”

A burst of static came from Connor as he forgot about his voice. Both of them winced at the sound, quiet settling over the room after the sharp noise.

“It’s not your fault,” Hank said. He balled his injured fists up, clenching them despite the pain it brought. “It’s no one’s fault except for the people that did this, okay? You didn’t do anything wrong just by existing.”

Connor knew this. This was something that he and Hank had discussed in depth before when Connor had focused on and prioritized nearly everything else before his own well being. Markus had also had a discussion with him about the importance of knowing your worth once it had become obvious that Connor had been severely lacking in that department.

But that still didn’t make him feel any better at the moment. They were both sitting in the hospital, injured and tired and scared with suspects that likely wouldn’t ever stand trial due to small town politics and bullshit. How was he supposed to feel good or even okay knowing that?

“I’m just happy you’re okay,” Hank said. He reached his hands out towards Connor again and his time Connor allowed him. The bandages prevented him from touching Connor’s hair, but he did squeeze his hand lift his head up towards his face. “I don’t know what I would have done if anything had happened to you.”

“When I looked over and saw you just laying there… Well, I thought the worst. I thought for sure that you’ve overheated and died right next to me. And then, when I couldn’t get the door open? I thought it was just because of something I had done. That I wasn’t strong enough or something and that I had let you down. That you were going to die because of me,” Hank said. His voice was quiet, cracking in places with tears occasionally leaking out. “That was the worst thing about it. Thinking that you were going to die and it was going to be my fault.”

Connor wished now more than ever that Hank was an android. If he were, then they could connect, they could interface and communicate without the use of Connor’s vocal systems that were damaged. He’d be able to pass along all the information that he wanted to, all of the things that he was feeling and reassure Hank that everything was okay. It was a something he loved about being an android that he wished Hank could experience as well.

Directing powers away from his other systems hurt. It hurt in a way that he’d never really been able to describe. Maybe like how a human would sometimes hold their breath in order to concentrate? Except this wouldn’t kill him. He wouldn’t die if he turned any of these off, at least not immediately and not without entering standby mode for a reboot.

He leached power away from his synthetic skin, focusing on the areas that were covered by the hospital scrubs and blanket on his shoulders. While Hank had never seemed to care much about whether or not Connor kept his synthetic appearance, he did know that it sometimes hurt Hank to see all of the parts that went into his systems, especially when those parts were damaged like they were now.

He also shut off his auto-breathing. There was no need for it now, as he was in a stable climate and had recently had his systems plunged into icy waters to correct them. They would be fine for a few minutes without it.

Hank, seeming to notice that something was going on with Connor, leaned forward on the bed. “Connor? Connor, what’s wrong?”

_Just a few moments,_ Connor thought. _That’s all I need._

_“H-H-Hank,”_ he croaked out. His voice was unrecognizable from the one he usually used, taking on something broken and pained as he tried to speak. It wouldn’t last long, but it would be long enough for him to say what he needed to. _“It wasn’t your fault.”_

“Stop. Stop talking,” Hank said, his hand waving in front of Connor. “I know that hurts so stop.”

_“Not until you stop saying stuff like that.”_

“This is a normal reaction, Con! It’s normal to feel guilty when you can’t save you own k- partner. When you can’t save your own partner,” he finished, lamely.

Connor bunched up his brows. What had he almost said? _“What did you say?”_ he asked.

Hank rolled his eyes. “I mean, it’s not exactly a secret that I see you as my kid, is it?” he asked. There was that defensive tone that he always used when it came to a subject such as this, something that Connor was learning to recognize for what it was. Leftover from the walls he had built around him after Cole died. They would probably always be there, but that didn’t mean that Connor couldn’t try and help him out of them now and then.

_“No. But it is good to hear,”_ Connor said. _“I do have a question though. Something I’ve been meaning to ask the whole trip.”_ He stared down at his white hands, noticing the tiny, almost invisible cracks that were in them. Androids, even being the police prototype that he is, weren’t built to last this long under this much physical strain. He’d broken his hands and fingers numerous times, only to heal them over time. Most androids would have had them replaced, but his prototype status sometimes made that difficult.

How could he ask what he wanted to ask an expect it to go anything other than badly?

“Sure,” Hank said. “Anything, Con.”

He wanted to sit there for a few minutes, gather his thoughts and his words in some sort of order that would make sense and help Hank understand everything that was going on, as well as make sure that the man knew he was able to decide anything he wanted. There would be no pressure from Connor on any of this.

“ _So you know how I’m an android?_ ” He flinched as he thought about the fact that he’d said those exact same words back at the cabin that was now in ruins. It seemed like such a bad way to start off a topic like this one.

Hank, to his credit, didn’t point out the obvious, such as the fact that they’d already had this part of the conversation, that it was obvious he was an android. Instead, he nodded, letting Connor go at his own pace.

_“So technically I don’t have a family, which means that I don’t have a last name,”_ Connor said. He resisted the urge to pick at the scrub he was wearing or the blanket that he currently had in his possession. _“So I was just wondering if you wanted to pick one out for me. Make it official?”_

This wasn’t anything new. Since the revolution there had been plenty of androids coming forward with new last names. Some of them had taken the names of the families that had owned them before, some from their inspectors who had signed off on their creation, some of them from popular works of fiction. He knew at least three androids running around with the last name Valentine, who was apparently a robot detective from some science-fiction game, and plenty more with the last name Kamski, as in Elijah Kamski. 

Simon had insisted Connor pick Valentine, as it was “simply perfect”. North had said that he needed to pick something that was his own, something he could have completely independent of everyone else. Markus had insisted that Connor look for inspiration close by.

And while all of those were sound advice for how to pick a last name, in the end he’d chosen wanted Hank to pick it out for him. It seemed fitting that he main reason for his deviation be the person to help him choose a new name to be recognized by.

Hank blinked a few times at Connor’s words, as if he didn’t understand them. “You want me to pick a name for you?”

“ _A last name. Yes.”  
_  
Hank continued to stare at the android as if he had suddenly grown another head. “But you already have one.”

Connor shook his head. _“No, I do not. Some androids were given last names at their creation, like school teachers and professors. But I was not created with any other name than Connor or perhaps RK800.”_

Hank, agitation apparent in all his movements, waved away Connor’s words. “No! Not at your- not at your creation! I’m talking about now!”

_“I’m afraid I don’t follow.”_

“Anderson, you idiot!” Hank practically yelled. “You’re an Anderson!”

Connor blinked, his LED slowly cycling yellow as he looked at Hank. _“Anderson?”_

Hank coughed a bit, clearing his throat in a way that had nothing to do with the smoke inhalation. “Well, uh, yeah. Or at least I figured if you ever picked one that’s what you’d take. You’re family, kid, and the family name’s Anderson, if you want it.”

His ventilation systems suddenly kicked back in, leaving him gasping as he tried to process Hank’s words. He knew that he thought of Hank and Sumo as family, but to hear the other man claim it? To hear it acknowledged out loud in such a way that left no room for argument? Well, that said a lot.

He had a last name now. One that he would truly be able to call his own. One that he shared with his family.

Unable to voice his pleasure at the last name, he settled for the next best thing. He flung himself from the wheelchair and wrapped his arms around Hank’s neck, burying his face into his shoulder. Warm tears rolled down his face, soaking the hospital gown Hank was sitting in.

“It’s okay, son,” Hank said. “Everything’s going to be okay.”

XXXX

It was weeks later before either of them had directly mentioned anything that had happened at the cabin. Late at night one of them could hear the other’s cries in the darkness as they fought off nightmares that hadn’t ended as happy as real life did. But neither one of them wanted to mention them to the other, too afraid that they might embarrass or upset them.

It was also weeks later before they heard anything about the young men that had set fire to their cabin. With the laws of androids clearly stating that they were now considered people, they were facing two charges of attempted murder, property damage, and whatever else the lawyers at Jericho could turn up against them. 

“They pled guilty,” Hank said. “Looks like they’ll be getting at least twenty-five years.”

Connor blinked in confusion for a moment, wondering who exactly Hank was talking about before remembering what article he was reading in the paper. “That seems like a long time for an attempt.”

“Jericho is making an example out of everyone they can,” Hank said. “Markus told me that they are practically overwhelmed with the amount of cases that they’re getting. Anything that strikes enough fear into them to leave androids alone is good enough for them.”  

Connor nodded. “Jones’ son, Jace, is hoping to finish college next year. He’s talking about going to law school to try and work on some cases like the one’s Jericho takes on.”

Hank whistled. “Law school’s pretty different from farm life.”

Connor nodded, thinking about how different the country had been from the city. “He seems smart. I’m sure he’ll manage.”

“He is smart.” Hank said, placing the news back on the table. “He’s the reason we’re still alive, and they are going to jail. If he hadn’t seen the smoke we would’ve never gotten out. And if he hadn’t given up the information about what he had saw that night there would have been no evidence against them.”

He moved a few things through the pile of mail, searching for something else. “On a happier note, this came in this morning.”

Connor leaned over, looking at the package. He quickly recognized it for what it was likely to be, the documents for his official name change.

Moving so quickly Hank almost couldn’t even see him, he snatched the package from Hank’s hand and ripped it open. He’d been waiting for what felt like forever after he’d received Hank’s blessing to have the same last name has the rest of his family.

When he opened it up, however, he froze. There was something wrong with the forms. He’d looked up name change forms before, had done extensive research on them. These were not them.

These were adoption forms.

“Hank?” he asked. “What is this?”

Hank stood up from the table and walked over to him. His smile was so wide it nearly split his face as he hugged Connor. 

“A last name is important,” Hank said. “But I thought you might want something a little more. Something that cements you as part of this family.”

“But,” Connor started, before swallowing thickly. “I don’t want to… I don’t want to impose or to overstep any boundaries or-”

“Con, we live together. You’ve seen me at my literal worst, and I’ve seen you without your skin on. This seems like a weird time to worry about boundaries.”

Connor laughed a high pitched laugh, knowing that Hank had a point. It seemed pointless to try and argue any of it when they were already a family. They already called themselves a family, already saw themselves as a family, why not just go ahead and make it official?

“I just hope that I can make you proud,” Connor said, wiping at his eyes with the back of his hand. 

“You already do, Connor. You already do.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you guys for all the comments and support you give me! It's so great to be apart of this fandom! And remember you can find me over on tumblr under the same user name if you ever wanna talk!

**Author's Note:**

> i was watching criminal minds and there was an episode about a fire and people trying to escape. i decided i couldn't burn down hank's house, but i could certain do it to a cabin! but we'll see that in the next chapter, more than likely!
> 
> just a reminder that if you ever wanna talk about dbh or suggest any prompts, i'm over on tumblr with the user name ahyperactivehero


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